Author: M.E. Owen

So … it’s been awhile. I’ve been writing stories for Boundary Shock Quarterly (Check it out!). Most of them are set in my Zion Station universe, and at some point I’ll start putting them together. Gonna be fun!

Like many of us, I’m working from home. And like many of us, I’m watching this year’s events unfold with a mix of disbelief, horror and frustration. “May you live in interesting times” is a curse and not a blessing for a reason, and these times are definitely interesting.

On the home front, Kudra the turtle is fine, as is her friend Pip, and her bird cousins. It’s summer, so the deck garden is going gangbusters. I’ve been harvesting squash and beans, and the occasional tomato (tomatoes are hit-and-miss in the Pacific NW). And this year I have lots of flowers, because flowers make me happy.

These are Schizanthus. They’re quite small, prolific, and colorful. Too bad I can’t pronounce their name!

So some friends of mine got into a discussion about all the different kinds of moles, and somehow a challenge got thrown down, and because they’re writers, and at least one of them’s a publisher, the next thing you know, there’s an anthology about moles in the world, and the world is a better place.

And I have a story in it. About moles. All sorts of moles. Without using the word “mole.” Ha.

Science fiction moles, modern moles, historical moles, moles in comic format, moles in villanelle format (read the book to figure it out!), all sorts of cool stories with one thing in common.

Check it out.

My fourth Zion Station story appears in BSQ 005 on January 10th. Gotta say, this has been a fun series to write. Would help if I had any idea where it was all going!

This time around, we visit a formerly missing ship that has turned up in the local ship graveyard. Anyone alive out there? Or is it just ghosts? Or maybe something else entirely?

AND there’s eleven other terrific stories, and a couple of fine essays.

Check out the entire series here: Boundary Shock.

I’m in my first story bundle! To be precise, Boundary Shock 001 is in the SF Plot Twist Bundle, and my story “Ne Plus Ultra” is in BSQ 001.

The deal is that you pay what you want, as little as $5.00, and you get four books, including Boundary Shock Quarterly. All science fiction, and all with twisty plots. If you pay $15, you get SIX ADDITIONAL books.

Yep, ten books for as little as $15. Or you can pay more 🙂

And a portion of the price goes to a worthwhile charity, in this case AbleGamers.

These are great writers, folks, and great stories! I’ve bought a bunch of bundles over the years, and have never been disappointed. The offer ends on August 23rd, so don’t dawdle!

Here’s the link again (in case you missed it): SF Plot Twist Story Bundle

Okay, this is way cool.

I’ve been invited to participate in Boundary Shock, which is a quarterly speculative fiction magazine. I promise to hand them at least a couple of short stories each year, and they … publish them. Along with all sorts of other cool stories.

This year I handed them four. Three of them are set in my new Zion Station universe (yay, I got a new universe out of it too!), and one is a standalone that came about because I ride the bus every day.

Go check it out!

 

This is my second appearance with the awesome folks at Flash Fiction Online!

This story began as a writing prompt with some online friends: someone wants something they can’t have. I thought of my brother when he was a little bitty dude, and my dad would bundle him up and take him outside to see the moon and stars before bedtime.

“Get his nose cold, then pop him into bed,” Dad would say. And  if the sky was clear and the moon was out, my brother would invariably reach up and say, “moon?”

He was a lot younger then than the little dudette in the story, and the result is … well, go see for yourself. It’s free to read at Flash Fiction Online. (and you can subscribe, too! Ten bucks gets you a year’s worth of issues! What a deal!)

Woohoo! “Intruder” is online at Fireside Fiction!

I had fun writing this story because I leveraged some of my own household tics (they say “write what you know,” and I know there just might be someone hiding behind the shower curtain this time). Of course, I’d be a little more surprised if it turned out to be who it is in the story…

It’s free to read, but you can also support the fine folks at Fireside through their Patreon.

I’m excited to have my first story up at Abyss & Apex.

“Soup Kitchen” explores how others are impacted when someone makes a deal with the universe, and gets taken up on it.

You can read here for free.

… for what it’s worth. This is not one of those times. Instead, this is the obligatory first post.

Fine, it’s a test post. There’ll be more coming soon (short stories, works in progress, all that), at which point I shall delete this post as silly and superfluous.

In the meantime, the turtle is actually an American box tortoise. Her name is Kudra, she’s at least 35 years old, and couldn’t care less about being the model for my temporary header.